1. Field of the Invention
Education and demonstration: physical education; golf. Golf teaching device.
Golf practice device amusement devices: miscellaneous ball and club alignment means; alignment means demountably attached to putter head.
Sighting device requiring golfer to look at a point; golf guide putting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The recreational activity of golfing has continued to attract more and more enthusiasts year after year until it is getting to the point where golf is one of this country's most popular recreational activities. The positive aspects of golfing are that players young and old; men and women; those who are physically fit and those who are not physically fit, can become proficient players and can enjoy the game without having to be conditioned athletes.
The universal characteristic of a competent golfer is to have a consistently good swing when teeing off at the beginning of each hole, when driving down the fairway, and when chipping and putting the ball into the cup. The golfer needs to develop a consistent swing when driving with one of the wood clubs. After teeing off and while working one's way along the fairway toward the flag stick on the green, one has to develop one's swing with respect to the other set of golf clubs called the irons. Lastly, after the golfer has landed the golf ball on the green, the final phase is to putt the golf ball into the cup on the green. The whole object of golfing is to do this with the least number of hits on the ball - called strokes.
A typical golf course comprises 18 holes, and is approximately 6,000 yards long. A typical golf course is designed for a par 3 to par 5 per hole depending on the length and difficulty of each hole. In a typical par 4 hole being 300-400 yards long, the golfer will tee off with a driver using one stroke, and then the golfer will use his irons for one or more additional strokes to land the golf ball on the green leaving one or two putting strokes left for the golfer to sink the golf ball into the cup to stay within the assigned par for the hole. Unfortunately, anyone who has ever played golf realizes that there is no room for mistakes when putting the ball while on the green. A slight mis-hit of the ball will result in at least another stroke to sink the ball in the cup on the green. If the golfer has established a good swing to get the ball from the tee-off area to the green, the most important aspect then becomes the golfer's ability to putt the ball accurately to avoid needlessly running up his score for the total game. A skilled golfer (excluding putting) may appear to be a proficient golfer, but if his putting ability is deficient, then his total score for the 18 hole round of play will be far above par. The total score is the objective measure of the golfer's ability to play golf. One third to one half the strokes a typical golfer takes during a round of golf will be on the greens.
All golfers should "warm-up" before beginning their round of golf by hitting several practice golf balls at the driving range and practising one's putting on a practice green adjacent to the golf course. While practicing on the practice green, one should first take long lag putts of 30- to 40-feet to get a feel for the speed of the surface of the practice green that will be similar to the greens encountered on the adjacent golf course. One should then practice medium length putts in the 10- to 15-foot range to find the "exact line" from the ball to the cup. Lastly, short 3 foot putts should be done to practice "pushing" the ball into the cup.
There are several devices on the market that are intended to help, assist and improve the golfer's technique during the putting process. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,286 issued to La Breche, discloses a direction and slope indicating putter head. The putter disclosed in La Breche is intended to indicate to the golfer the slope and direction that the golf ball should be stroked. U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,125 issued to Cone et al. discloses a level indicating putter that is used to indicate the vertical orientation and slope of the green relative to the ball to help the putter to shoot in accordance with the terrain and contour of the green one encounters throughout the typical golf course. Any experienced golfer knows and appreciates that the golf greens are rarely horizontal or even planar and are intentionally sloped, and have mounds and dips and other undulations to make the putting process more difficult in order to challenge the experienced golfer.
The putting stance used by a typical golfer while putting the golf ball is entirely different from the swing when teeing off or when using the irons on the fairway. While addressing the golf ball, the golfer normally holds the grip of the putter firmly with his/her hands to keep the putter head on path throughout the stroke. The stroke is mainly an arm-and-shoulder movement. The swinging action forming the stroke can be described as a pendulum movement. The wrists release on the forward swing, squaring the face of the putter head through impact and keeping it moving straight down the target line. If the swing path wavers, both back and through the pendulum movement, then this will cause off-line putts.
The typical golf putter head that contacts the golf ball has a vertical face and the shaft is angularly positioned relative to the putter head so that the golfer, when properly addressing the ball, will hit the dimpled surface of the golf ball with the planar face of the putter at a vertical tangential position relative to the cup. That is to say, the golfer wants to hit the golf ball square on with the putter head. This can be defined as an imaginary sight line drawn from the cup and passing through the center of the golf ball and having a tangent, or right angle, to this diametral target line. The vertical tangential plane relative to the diametral line should be oriented with a medial vertical plane formed by the golfer standing over and addressing the ball. The stroke used while putting is supposed to hit the surface of the golf ball at a perfect tangential position so that it will proceed in the direction intended by the golfer. Unfortunately, many golfers subconsciously create an arced sweep when bringing back the putter before hitting the ball. It is often so subtle that the average golfer is not aware that he is forming an arc on the ground caused by the putter head going slightly above the grass on the green between the time the golfer pulls back until the golf ball is hit, and the follow through afterward. This arcing motion will of course alter the direction that the golf ball was intended to be hit. Because of this swinging motion, the typical golfer hits the ball in a direction off to the left or right from the exact line previously sighted by him while he was lining up the golf ball with the cup prior to hitting the ball.